Marvel’s Secret Invasion stars Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight) as Nick Fury, the former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the man who gathered together the Avengers. In the series, Fury discovers a group of shapeshifting Skrull aliens who are attempting a takeover of Earth, and he works to stop them. The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Jackson and other members of the cast and crew to discuss the show.
Jackson talked about how Fury has changed. “[He’s] older, a little tired, not as confident as he used to be,” he said. “You find out where he lives! Does he live in a condo? Is that a house?”
Executive producer Jonathan Schwartz (Guardians Of The Galaxy, Captain Marvel) also shed light on the type of man Fury is at the start of Secret Invasion. “…we’re very used to seeing Nick Fury who can handle anything and is always six steps ahead,” he said. “He always knows what you’re thinking before you think it, and that’s not quite the Nick we’re gonna meet at the top of Secret Invasion.”
Ali Selim (Mad Women, Sweet Land), the director of Secret Invasion, seconded this idea. “Unlike any other Marvel show that we’ve ever seen, [Secret Invasion] is really about a human being whose feet are on the ground, and as episode one starts out, he’s older, he’s lost a little bit of his mojo,’ he said.
Ben-Adir (One Night In Miami, High Fidelity), who plays the Skrull antagonist Gravik, discussed the intricacies of his character. “How are Graviks created?” he said. What happened? How much trauma has he suffered to get to this point where he’s ready to turn around and see that inflicted on other people? It was just about really digging into that. The points of concentration were like, ‘Wow, what would happen if you really didn’t trust anyone?’ Skrulls, humans, dogs, cats, men, women, kids, no one. I think he loved before, he had a life wherever, and now he’s like, ‘Fuck that. I was an idiot. Now, I know.’ It was kind of sick, so I had fun doing it.”
Look for Secret Invasion when it airs on Disney+ on June 21.